How to Upgrade to iOS 5 from Beta Software

iOS 5 is a major upgrade that introduces more than 200 new user features. Notification Center was probably one of the most anticipated feature as iOS devices were lacking an efficient way to manage or organize notifications.

If you have been running iOS 5 beta on your device and tried to update by checking for update via iTunes it might not have worked for you. However, if you were running the GM seed then there is no need for any further update as the build number of the version Apple released on Wednesday is same as the GM seed.

Now, if you are running beta version of iOS 5 then the first thing you’ll have to do is download iTunes 10.5 available from Mac Software Update or Apple’s website. Once you have the latest version of iTunes installed you would would now need to backup your device. You can do this by simply right-clicking on the device name listed on the left sidebar of iTunes and then selecting backup.

The easiest way to update to the final version of iOS 5 is to download the update directly from Apple’s server. Direct links to iOS 5 have been mentioned at the end of this post. Once you have downloaded iOS 5 you would need to hold option key on Mac and then click restore on iTunes. You will be prompted to choose .ipsw file, now select the file you just downloaded and your device should start restoring.

Once this process is complete you will have iOS 5 and when your device restarts you can either set it up as a new device or choose to restore from the backup you took earlier.

In certain rare cases iTunes refuses to restore devices. In that case you should disconnect the USB cable from your iOS device, switch it off and then hold the home button and while pressing the home button connect the USB cable to your device. When you see “connect to iTunes” displayed then leave the home button. iTunes will now prompt you to restore the device. And now you just click on restore and iTunes should automatically download the update and restore your device. After this you can again set it up as a new device or restore from the backup you took earlier.